


Chances Are

by WickedMuse



Series: Chances [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2018-11-18 09:08:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11288136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedMuse/pseuds/WickedMuse
Summary: Sequel to Chance Encounters. I had several people request more in that story, so I caved and started a sequel. I recently had someone ask me when I'd add to it, and I decided that now is as good a time as any. This story takes place about... 10 years (give or take) after Chance Encounters. I have also decided that this may very well be the lead up series to one of my current stories. We shall see....





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, I made the choice to tweak the timelines a little bit for this story... but hey, this is my made up crazy slice of this make believe world, so I can bend the rules however I want!

Dean must have flipped through the pages of his father's journal countless times, and could have sworn he'd read every word written in it. So... it surprised him a little when he found a folded up page taped into the pocket in the back. His brow furrowed as he carefully pried the thing free and noticed that the paper seemed too thick to just be a written note. The last time he'd uncovered one of his father's secrets... it lead to the news that he had a half-brother out there. His hands shook just a little as he carefully unfolded the paper. As he opened the page, a small wallet sized photo fell onto the table top. Dean closed his eyes and cursed inwardly. What was this, another life half lived somewhere else? More unknown family that he'd abandoned? Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes and picked up the photo. Furrowing his brow he pulled the small photo in for a closer look. Something about it was familiar, and yet it was foreign at the same time. The photo was of Bobby, John, and two young women. The photo was slightly faded, and torn at the edges, but still clear enough to see the faces. Those faces that he couldn't place, but had some strange recognition of. Shaking his head a little, he flipped the photo over hoping to find the answer to his question. Nothing. There was nothing on the back. Not a date, not a name, not even a location. Shrugging he set the photo down and looked the paper over that it had been stored in. The writing was Bobby's...

  
_there were happy days... don't forget them._  
 _JC & OC_  
 _you once told me that family isn't just about blood relations._

 

“what the hell...” Dean muttered as he flipped the paper over, hoping to find more information... but there was nothing. He looked at the photo again. Something about the two girls in the photo pulled at a memory he couldn't access. Something he'd buried so deep in his brain that even a visual reminder couldn't pull it back up. Were these girls related to Bobby? Were they related to John? Just who the hell were these two girls... clearly they were important, but why had he never heard about them? With a sigh he realized that his dad had hidden a second life from them for decades, so why would this have ever been brought up. But Bobby though... he usually didn't keep the big secrets.

Dean heard a car door close and shortly after, the front door opened and closed. He paused for a moment and contemplated tucking this back where he found it, but curiosity got the better of him. He wasn’t sure if it was Sam that had come back with beer and burgers, or Bobby that had come back with salt and holy water.

“Dean?” came Sam’s voice from down the hall.

“In here” Dean called out to Sam, leaning back in the chair.

“hey” Sam said as he walked into the room “so they only had light beer… “ he said as he set one down on the table. Raising an eyebrow he looked at what was laying on the table. “What’s that?”

“Found it in Dad’s journal” Dean said and held up the paper and photo. “I’ve no idea who they are”

Sam took the small photo and paper and frowned as he read the note in Bobby’s handwriting. “OC and JC? What does that mean?” He asked and then looked at the picture.

Dean went to pick up the bottle of beer and scoffed as he saw the label. “Light beer?”

“yeah… I told you that’s all they had”

“no you didn’t”

“yes I di-“ Sam started, but then something in the photo caught his attention. “I think… I think I’ve seen this girl before” he said as he set the photo down and pointed at the taller of the two. “or if not, it was someone who could be her twin…” Sam said and then started flipping through the journal, looking for one particular entry. Finding the page he was after, he pushed it in front of Dean.

Dean raised a brow when Sam told him he’d seen one of the girls before. He lifted the beer to his lips as Sam started flipping the pages of the journal, taking a long drink, he gagged a little as the aftertaste of the light beer hit him. “ugh… light beer…” he muttered to himself and then leaned forward when Sam pushed the journal in front of him.

“Remember this?” Sam asked.

“Jersey? When the hell would we have gone to wipe out vampires in Jersey?” Dean asked as he started to re-read what was written on the page.

“Two weeks before I left for Stanford. I had just graduated, and Dad told me that I had to go on one last hunt before I left it all behind.”

“Wait… yeah… I remember that. You were 19. Dad took off, as usual, and I ended up dragging you to a bar…” Dean let his words trail off and closed his eyes tight for a moment, like the memory was running away faster than he could remember it.

“Yeah, you did. Remember anything else from that place?”

Dean’s eyes shot open and he looked up at Sam “there was that hot stripper that kept her eyes on you…”

Sam just smiled and nodded and pointed down to the photo. “Yup, I’m pretty sure that was her…”

The confusion that fell over Dean’s face was comical. “Naw, couldn’t be. That chick was pale as a vamp and had short black hair. This chick has long red hair and…” Dean picked up the photo again and held it so that his fingers covered up her hair. “Holy. Shit”

“Yeah. Like I said, it was either her or her twin” Sam stated and took a drink from his own beer.

“Wait… how the hell did you figure that out? I mean, we only saw her for what… like 20 minutes on that stage?” Dean asked him and took another swig from the beer in his hand, waiting for Sam’s answer. When he didn’t get one, he looked at Sam with a raised brow. “you did only see her for like 20 minutes on stage… didn’t you?”

Sam pursed his lips and looked away as he tried to figure out how to answer that.

“wait… you didn’t...” Dean started and then chuckled. “You telling me that at some point that night, you found time to hook up with the stripper?!”

“You and Dad took off for 2 hours. She’d been in the room next door…” Sam muttered and picked the photo up again.

“You sly dog you!” Dean said and laughed.

“I was 19 and headed to college… You’re the one who got me drunk. Still don’t know why she’s in this photo though…” Sam said and handed the photo back to Dean. “maybe we should ask Bobby”

“Damn Sammy… I can’t believe you kept that to yourself all these years.”

“She’d told me her name was…” He paused and took a deep breath. “Morgan. I think, so I really don’t know what the note is in reference too. You’d think that Bobby would have told us at some point.

“Yeah, well, neither Dad nor Bobby managed to tell us about Dad’s other family, so why would he have told us about another… other… family” Dean said and shook his head. Too many other families to keep track of these days.

“Maybe they weren’t Dad’s. Maybe it’s Bobby’s hidden other life…” Sam said and shrugged. “what? He did have another life before you and I got dropped into it” Sam said and with that he walked away toward the kitchen.

“Maybe. Still, something about this whole thing is bugging the crap out of me…” Dean said and closed the journal, but left the photo, and letter, sitting on top of it.


	2. Chapter Two

Sam had been in the kitchen for about an hour getting some semblance of dinner going. Neither he nor Dean could decide on what actually sounded good for a meal, so Sam had started just looking through the options of ingredients that they had. As he started pulling things out of the fridge and setting them aside, he heard Dean walk into the kitchen.

 

“So, what’s the deal with dinner?” he asked and noticed the bags of vegetables on the counter. “Oh, great, rabbit food…” he muttered and sighed.

 

“Yes Dean, you actually do need to eat the ‘rabbit food’ every now and then. It’s healthy” Sam said and then dropped the package of steak on the counter as well. “You can handle those” he said and reached for the bags of vegetables.

 

Dean gave a smirk and scooped up the package of steaks “gladly. Just give me the beef and I’m good”. Grabbing a beer, he headed outside to get the barbeque going.

 

Bobby pulled up to the house and nodded at Dean as he headed toward the grill. Grabbing the bag containing the vials of holy water and containers of salt he closed the door on the El Camino and headed towards the house. Glad to see the boys actually making food, and not just buying more fast food.

 

“Steaks?” was his one word question to Dean as he opened the door to the house. He was just getting the grill started and the charcoal heating.

 

“Damn right” Dean said and grinned a smile that said he was far too happy to grill up fresh meat. “Take about… half an hour” he said and took a big swig from the beer.

 

Bobby nodded and stepped into the house. The smell that hit him made his stomach growl. He had no idea how he did it, but Sam always managed to make cooking vegetables smell sublime. Bobby smiled at the thought. It was always nice when the boys came back home for a few nights. He missed having another person in the house. As he set the bags down on the counter he thought back to how long it’d been since… he didn’t want to finish that thought. He’d never admit it, but he didn’t really like living alone all the time. Got a bit boring. Still lost in a bit of thought he never even heard Sam greet him as he walked into the study. Anytime he felt lonely he surrounded himself in something that brought him happiness. For some reason, that was what his study did. So many memories in that room. He narrowed his eyes when he saw something sitting on the desk that hadn’t been there before. Walking over to it, he recognized John’s old journal. Man, he hadn’t seen this thing in years… but that’s not what made him stop in his tracks. He swallowed hard as he caught a glimpse of something he was never expecting to see again. A letter he’d written to John, and very small photograph. _Holy shit_ he thought to himself as he closed the distance between where he stood and where the journal was.

 

“Son of a bitch” he muttered as he picked up the photo and the letter. He’d no idea that John had carried this with him all these years. I guess he really did have some remorse over that lost relationship. A thought ran through him then… just how _had_ this gotten here? He felt his face fall a moment later as he realized it had to have been one of the boys that found it. They’d done so well at keeping them ignorant to it all…. even after that extremely close call all those years ago. Taking a deep breath, Bobby realized it may well be time to explain things… grabbing the photo and pocketing it; he headed back to the kitchen to grab a beer. If this shit was gonna hit the fan, he needed a drink first.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Jade followed the sound into what appeared to be a large wooded area… but found that it was really just a long forgotten park that had become extremely overgrown. Looked like it had once been private property, as there was caution tape hanging off some of the limbs of the trees. _oh great… this bodes well_ she thought to herself as she took a deep breath and reached for the gun she’d tucked into her waistband. Giving it a once over and making sure the safety was off, she kept it gripped in her hand and proceeded forward. the tree branches were a lot thicker than she’d expected, and coupled with the very tall bushes and she was certain that she was gonna be itchy later. As one branch slipped through her left hand and whipped back to smack her in the face, she cursed as silently as she possibly could, which wasn’t quite at all. She’d gotten close to sneaking up on whatever it was she was chasing… but now she could hear it retreat further into the overgrowth. Whatever it was, it was large. Jade stopped and took note of her situation. She was alone, in the dark, armed with only a gun, and wading through overgrown foliage. This was not a smart situation to be in. Sighing she pushed the branches aside and took one good look around at the area. She couldn’t see a damned thing. Then something caught her attention as it flashed. Just a twinkle of something, but she’d certainly seen it. Squinting her eyes, Jade saw it. Eyes. Two sets of them. Slowly she retreated back, letting the branches fall back into place. That was more than she’d bargained for. Two shifters, in the dark… yeah, she was gonna nope the fuck out of there. She’d managed to take two steps backwards when the familiar melody of ‘I love rock and roll’ began playing. She felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket and cursed as she saw both sets of eyes turn to face her. “...fuck….” she muttered and turned, breaking into an all-out run. She knew she couldn’t outrun two shifters and she pulled her phone from her pocket, fumbled with it and hit the answer call button.

 

“ASH!” she managed to shout out just as the sound of the creatures neared, and she felt the force of them hit her. Her phone went sliding away and she turned, attempting to brace herself for the fall, but only resulted in slamming her wrist into the ground, and screaming out as she heard something snap. She’d managed to keep her head from hitting the ground, and she wrestled with other arm to reach for her gun, that had fallen just out of reach. Her fingers were touching the grip when the larger of the shifters bit down hard on her leg. Screaming in agony, she threw all her weight into rolling onto her side, and as her fingers wrapped around the grip of the gun, she didn’t even bother to lift her hand. She let off one shot as a warning and the creatures skittered back. Lifting her arm she took a wild shot and managed to nick one of them in the leg. As they retreated back into the shadows and trees, she let out a long breath and slowly sat up. She had to call Ash back and let him know that she was alive… hurt, but alive. If she didn’t he’d have every damn hunter in the state out looking for her. It took her a minute to spot her phone way off in the distance, and after hobbling over to it, she picked it up and hit redial. It didn’t even get through one ring before Ash had picked up the line.

 

“I’m okay… I’m okay…” Jade rambled off before he could speak.

“I put out a call for anyone in the area” Ash replied

“No, no… call it off. I managed to nick one with a bullet, and they scattered. I’ll be okay” She said and the awkward pause that lingered on the line told her that he wasn’t swayed with just that information. “Ash, seriously, call off the search and rescue. I’ll be fine. I can still drive.”

Another long pause, then some keys clicked in the background. “Fine. I’ve lowered the flag…. but I’m tracking your gps from here until you return”

“Ash you re-”

“Tough shit sweetheart… deal with it” Ash said and hung up the line.

 

With a long sigh Jade hobbled to her car, opened the door and basically fell into it. Maybe she’d just sleep here tonight…


	3. Chapter Three

Bobby opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. He could see Sam constantly fidgeting and looking over his shoulder awkwardly, basically trying to decide the right moment to speak. Finally with a roll of his eyes he leaned against the counter and raised a brow.

 

“If ya plan to speak, just speak. Silence isn’t always golden…” he said and took a long drink from the beer. He watched Sam turn off the burner and set the pan aside. He hesitated and then turned around and looked at Bobby.

 

“Do you…” he stopped, sighed and tried again. “Remember when…” he just couldn’t piece the words together to ask what he was trying to.

 

Bobby could tell Sam was struggling to find how to address something and just as he was about to reach into his back pocket for the photo, Dean opened the door and brought in the plate of cooked steak.

 

“Meat’s done… let’s eat!” Dean said and just carried the plate through the kitchen to the dinner table. He didn’t even bother to notice that the two other men in the room had been attempting to converse with each other.

 

“Nevermind…” Sam muttered and grabbed a bowl, poured the vegetables in it and carried it to the table.

 

Bobby shook his head and grabbed three more beers. He finished off the one in his hand and carried the 3 fresh ones to the table. Setting a beer down in front of each of the boys, he pulled the photo from his back pocket and tossed it onto the table. It took a grand total of 5 seconds before each of the boys stopped, looked at the photo, and then looked at him.

 

“I’m guessing you boys have questions” Bobby stated in his gruff voice as he cut a chunk from the steak on his plate.

 

Dean finished his bite and set his fork down before clearing his throat. “I have a few” he said and looked at Sam. “Pretty sure we both do…” Dean said and tried in vain to fight off the smile that was none too slowly forming on his face. “Especially considering that Sam-”

 

“DEAN!” Sam shouted as his brother before he could finish that sentence. Looking at Bobby he took a bit of a deep breath. “So, Bobby, who are they? I mean, you and Dad seem pretty familiar with them in that photo… is there yet another member of our family we should know about?” Sam said, the last of which had a tinge of anger in it. Mainly because, if they were related, he had a larger issue to come to terms with.

 

Bobby sat silent for a moment; trying his best to figure out how present this information. “Biologically…. no. But I’ve told you before that family don’t end with blood.” he nodded when he heard the boys join in on the last of that sentence. It made him happy to know that they remembered that. It would serve them well over the years, especially given that they grew up being raised by John. He still wished he could go back in time and give the boys a better life… especially Dean. He should never have had to endure the things he did…

 

“Bobby?” Dean said quietly, as he noticed he seemed to have drifted away. He could see that he was extremely lost in thought because even him calling his name couldn’t snap him free of where his mind had drifted. “Bobby?” He said his name a little louder this time, and it appeared to work.

 

Bobby shook his head a little as if to clear away the cloud of memories he’d gotten lost in. “Sorry… as I was saying, they aren’t blood relations, but you could say they are family”

 

Sam began coughing as he choked on his beer a bit. Finally managing to clear his throat he said “but they’re not biological relations… right?” The little bit of panic in his voice made Bobby raise a brow at him.

 

“Why do you ask?”

 

Sam cleared his throat again and shook his head “no reason… just… clarifying things. Please, go on.” His words were rushed, and he knew that Bobby could see through it all.

 

“Sam…” Bobby said in that fatherly tone he tried not to take with them.

 

Dean smirked. He couldn’t help it. “Because Sammy here slept with one of them…” he could no longer fight off the laugh that he’d been holding in.

 

“DEAN!” Sam’s voice bellowed out.

 

“I’m - I’m sorry Sammy, I couldn’t help it. I just... “ Dean waved the beer in front of himself as if to flag them to continue.

 

Bobby’s face fell and he shook his head. “Which one?” he asked quietly. When Sam didn’t reply, he spoke louder, and perhaps a little sterner than he intended. “Sam. Which. One.” His words were no longer a question, but a demand for information.

 

Sam cleared his throat and looked down at the photo. “The- the taller of the two. Told me her name was Morgan”

 

Bobby cursed and his fists balled up. He took a deep breath before he could speak. His voice was calm and steady when he finally did speak. “You’re sure?” When Sam just nodded he closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

 

“Oh he’s sure” Dean said with a smirk, still very amused with this whole thing.

 

“I guess you two deserve an explanation about this” Bobby said and took a bite from the steak, and then a drink for the beer. He picked up the photo, looked at it fondly “I’d had no idea John even had this photo… he was never the sentimental type” Bobby said and then turned the photo to face them. “These two girls here… well, they’d known yer dad since they were toddlers. Your mom was close with their mom. Died about the same time too. John looked in on them every now and then, but they mostly grew up with their grandparents”

 

“Well, lucky for them” Dean said with snide in his voice. All his amusement had faded away and a touch of bitterness had settled in.

 

Bobby glared at Dean for a moment and then continued. “Not quite so lucky. This one here” Bobby tapped the photo over the image of the taller girl “she’s Jade. She was 4 when her folks died, and 8 when her grandparents died. The state tried to toss them into foster care. I wasn’t prepared for what happened next” Bobby looked between the boys and noticed that both of them were paying rather close attention. “John reached the house before CPS could… the next thing I knew, he was at my front door with two little girls and a long story. I believe that was the week he left you two in Kansas…” Bobby heard Dean scoff.

 

“There were a lot of weeks when he just left us waiting” Dean’s voice was sharp with anger and guilt.

 

“How old were we? I don’t remember him leaving us places for a full week…” Sam said, his brow furrowed.

 

Dean opened his mouth to speak, but Bobby spoke first, there was a conversation he didn’t want to get started, and Dean was ready to open that can right now. “You, Sam, would have been about 6 or so yourself. John stayed for a day or two, tried to explain the whole situation to me, and then took off. I was left with two small children and not a clue in my head as to how to handle this. If Ellen hadn’t been around, I’d have been lost”

 

“Jeez… did everyone know about them except us?” Dean said incredulously.

 

“Well, yeah. John demanded it stay that way” Bobby said and chuckled. “I never understood why. I guess he was hoping he could do right by someone in his life” there was an awkward pause and Bobby realized if it lingered, this story may never finish being told. “Anyway, Ellen helped me to raise these girls. The older one, Jade, was a hot head and constantly in trouble. She and John never quite related. For some unknown reason, she and I got along just fine. Eventually Ellen kept the younger sister and raised her alongside her own daughter, and I took over raising the one girl. Anyway, long story short... John would look in on them from time to time, and eventually insisted that the two girls learn the trade… because he believed that the best way to hide them from you, was to get them into a solitary lifestyle themselves. It’d been 10 years and you boys still had no idea that they even existed. At that point we were all so used to keeping them a secret that it became normal” He paused then and looked at the boys. Dean’s face was full of emotion. He looked angry, sad, frustrated and confused all at the same time. Sam though, he just looked confused.

 

“But… so…” Sam started and seemed to be searching for words again.

 

“You wanna know how Jersey came about?” Bobby asked and saw Sam nod. “Well, John had basically taken the younger girl, Onyx, under his wing. When he wasn’t hunting with Dean, he was hunting with her. Jade… well, he’d driven her away. Even I couldn’t keep her from leaving… hell, even Ellen and Jo couldn’t stop her. She’d had it out with him and he’d told her she was too weak to survive on her own… and she felt the need to prove she wasn’t. We’d lost track of her for a month. Thought she was dead. It drove a wedge between John and I. Eventually Ash tracked her down and I got through to her. That was the night that John drug you two up to Jersey…” Bobby ran through the story like he was in a race.

 

“And that’s the night that…” Sam took a deep breath. “Oh man…”

 

“I’d had no idea that John had taken you two along. Jade and him had it out again that night. She hit him, he hit her… and that’s about when I got there.” Bobby paused. “That was years ago. I get letters from her now and then, and updates from Ash and Ellen, but not much else.

 

Dean got up suddenly, the chair scraping along the linoleum and grabbed his plate, which still held half of a steak. He said nothing as he got up and tossed the thing into the sink. Bobby winced when he heard the plate break. Sam just sat there quietly. Bobby couldn’t help but notice how the two of them handled this so differently. Dean was filled with anger, regret, pain and frustration… and Sam was just filled with questions and sadness.

 

“So… why, after Jersey, did no one explain this?” Sam asked quietly.  

 

“Honestly… we hoped that it had just been a close call, that you hadn’t met either of them, and nothing would ever come from it. I’d had no idea that anything had happened between any of you idjits.” Bobby said and looked at Sam. He’d expected an answer from him, but what he heard was laughter from the kitchen.

 

Dean heard Bobby’s words and they stung him so deeply, that the only response he had, was to laugh. “That is such BULLSHIT!” he said and stormed back into the room. “Dad had every fucking chance to explain all this shit to us! But no, he preferred the secrets… preferred to leave us behind and start again… and again... it’s just fucking BULLSHIT!” The waver in his voice let Bobby know that Dean was cracking. He couldn’t take that he’d been put through hell as a kid only to discover it was because his own father gave up on them, and tried to start over again. More than once. “Don’t make excuses for him Bobby. Don’t ever do that” Dean said, wiped at his cheek.

 

“So…” Sam said. He honestly didn’t quite know how to handle all this. “Can we… can we contact them at all? I mean, do they know who WE are?”

 

Bobby took a deep breath. “Yeah, actually, they do” Bobby said. He heard Dean curse and start laughing. “I told them a few years back. They saw you at Ellen’s place and started asking questions…”

 

Dean’s laugh grew louder. “Oh of course. yeah, because that makes perfect sense. Let them in on everything, but keep us in the dark. We’re just John’s shit kids… we don’t actually matter” Dean spat out the words and cursed again before leaving the room. A few minutes later they heard the engine to the Impala flair to life.

 

“Well, that went about as I expected…” Bobby said and let out a long breath.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Onyx woke to the sound of her phone vibrating on the nightstand. cracking open one eye she caught a glimpse of the clock… 2:45 am. her phone was set to block calls at night, with only 2 numbers that can call through. Ash, because he's Ash, and the number for the alarm company in case someone tripped a sensor. Reaching out blindly she grasped her phone and pulled it toward her. The screen glowed too brightly for her eyes and she fumbled with the screen until the line picked up.

"... yeah…." she said in a still mostly asleep voice.

"We have a situation, and I know you don't normally care what happens to people, but I figured you may want to know that your sister's phone just dropped off the map… along with her vehicle gps"

"yeah, so? she does that…." Onyx's voice was filling with annoyance

"Does this frequently happen after she's been attacked by shapeshifters?" Ash mirrored her annoyance. His patience with Onyx was always minimal.

"wait… what?" she lifted her head off the pillow and tried to bring herself to a more conscious state. She hadn't talked to her sister in near a year, but that didn't mean she didn't care about her.

"figured that'd get your attention. she made a stop in jersey and ran into some shifters, I was tracking her and about 20 minutes ago both gps went dead. like, non-existent dead. I can't find a ping on her anywhere." There was a tinge of panic in Ash's voice.

Onyx didn't realize that she'd been holding her breath until her heart jumped for lack of fresh oxygen. Ash still loved her sister, and never actually let her out of his 'sight', so to have him call her and tell her that her sister is just… gone… well, that instilled some worry in her.

"I only know her last location, and approximate time that the signal went down. beyond that, I have no way to track her. She's gotten good at finding my hidden tracers. I'm gonna put a call in to Bobby, but you're currently closer to her last location. I know i'm asking a lot, but it'll take you far less time than anyone else-"

"Ash, shut up and book my flight" Onyx said and hung up the phone. It'd been a year and a half since she'd last seen her sister face to face, and she'd been just fine with their biannual phone call. It seems that the world had other plans.

Groaning, Onyx rolled out of bed. She didn't turn on the light, because at this point she would see better in the dark than she would in the bright light. This place was just one of her scattered 'rest stops' as she called them. She'd made a few smart trades over the years and wound up with a few small studios in her name that she could turn into crash pads. Pulling open drawers in her small dresser, she gathered up enough clothing to pack into her carry-on bag. Just as she was reaching for her keys, her phone buzzed. Ash had texted her the flight information, and she was out the door.

"And so it begins…" She muttered to herself as she slid behind the wheel of her small pickup truck.

* * * * * * *

Dean had been gone all of about 10 minutes, Sam had cleaned up the remainder of the dishes, and Bobby was sitting at the table when his phone rang. It was one of the land lines, which was odd. Getting up he closed the distance between him and handset of the ringing phone. It was the general house line, not any of the lines dedicated to the numbers on any of the business cards the boys handed out. Raising a brow in confusion, Bobby picked up the line.

"Yeah what do ya want?" He said, his gruff voice fending off any mis-dials.

"Bobby, she's gone. I can't get a signal on her anywhere" Ash's hurried voice came through the line.

Bobby walked around the small wall in the room that the phones were attached to and lowered his voice. He hoped that Sam didn't overhear anything, but knew that was unlikely.

"What do ya mean she's gone?"

"I mean, she got herself into a bit of trouble and now her signals are gone. Just gone. I can't get a ping on her anywhere. I've already called Onyx and she's headed to the airport, but jesus Bobby, I can't see that ending much better either!" Ash hurried through the words.

Bobby could hear the clicking of keys and heavy equipment being moved around on the other end of the line. Ash was panicked. He had reason to be though. He rarely ever lost a target, especially this target. "damnit. I asked you to keep a line on her!" Bobby's voice was getting loud enough that Sam could hear. "Where was she last?"

"Jersey. She said she was there to visit an old haunt?" Ash's voice was filled with unanswered questions.

"Damn. I know what that means and it's not good. that whole area was always crawling with seedy shit"

"I can't track something that's gone off the grid. I don't know how to do that shit like you do…" Ash sounded defeated this time.

"Yeah, well, I know two people who can" Bobby said, exacerbation heavy in his voice.

"John's boys? I thought they-"

"Yeah and they do now. This aint gonna be pretty." Bobby said gruffly and hung up the phone. He never said goodbyes, too personal and too real. "Well this day just keeps getting shittier"

Just then Sam walked into the study and raised a brow at him. "What was that all about?"

"Call yer brother. I need him back here. I have a job for you boys, and he aint gonna go willingly"

Sam could see the frustration written all over Bobby's face. He pulled out his phone and dialed his brother's phone. It took five calls before he finally picked up. A brief conversation and he'd managed to get Dean to come back to the house.

"Dean's on his way. What's going on?" Sam asked as he tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"Yer girl's gone missing…" Bobby said, knowing that the phrase would pretty much keep Sam from asking any more questions.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just the start of this chapter... give me time, there is more to come.

Onyx stepped was about two steps off the plane when her phone rang. Looking down at the screen she couldn’t help but scoff until the sound rolled into a chuckle. Shaking her head just a little she picked up the call and brought the phone to her ear.

“Damn Ash, your tracking skills are on point…”

“This is my girl you’re after. Of course it’s on point”

“Your girl? Ash, you literally had her for a drunken weekend and then she kicked your ass to the curb harder than anyone before”

“You weren’t there for that weekend Onyx… that was the best weekend of my entire life”

“Blech, I just threw up in my mouth a bit. Please don’t ever, ever talk about sex with my sister again”

“It was more than just se-“

“Yeah and that’s where you need to stop. Just… don’t ever talk about you and my sister together in any way that isn’t fully clothed with good space between you”

“You really need to get laid more often…”

“Don’t even go there Ash, just don’t. Now, I’m almost to baggage claim”

“Yeah you’re gonna want claim track 3. They tossed your luggage on the wrong carousel”

“How do you-? Ya know what… forgot I even asked. I really do not want to know”

Spotting her bag trundling down the rubber track she reached out her hand to grip the strap of the duffle and hefted it up onto her shoulder. The medium sized canvas bag was testing the strength of the metal clips that held it to the shoulder strap, each one groaning with every sway of her step.

“Now, do I already have a transport? Please tell me that I don’t need to interact with a human to pick it up.”

“Even on my best days I wouldn’t do that to you. There’s a cart hub to your left, you’ll find a small black box at the lower edge of it”

As she reached the robotic monstrosity he referred to as a hub, she noticed a light blinking down near the bottom. A soft beep and two seconds later the box opened to drop a key on the ground.  Lifting the key off the rubber mat that sat under the device, a slow curl formed at the edge of her lips.

“A raptor? Really?”

“Blackout windows, V8 engine with 4by, and I think you’ll enjoy the interior set up. Hand selected. I’ve pre-set the gps to take you to her last known location.”

“What would I do without you?”

“Piss off a lot more people and take twice the time. Lot C, far right third back.”

There was a pause and Onyx just knew the next words out of his mouth would be something that she wasn’t going to enjoy.

“Spit it out Ash”

“I called Bobby.”

Pulled the phone away from her face, she fought with herself not to let out the stream of obscene words that were flowing through her brain and reflected upon her facial features.

“Why? Why the hell would you do that? Why the fuck would you haul my ass out here if you were just gonna get him invol-.” She cut herself short and this time she couldn’t keep the words inside, but quietly let a few slip through her lips. “You little shit-headed fucking bastard. You did it to get _them_ involved….” She said the word ‘them’ with venom dripping from it.

“They are the best damned hunters apart from you and your sister. You need all the help you can get.”

“When this is finished I’m flying my ass to the tavern and beating you bloody”

“Oh don’t tease me”

“You’re a sick bastard Ash” she said and ended the call without a goodbye. “Well fuck me sideways and call me a bitch…” The words were muttered under her breath as she stepped out in front of the slow moving cars, flipping them off each time they honked at her. Her truck was parked in the closest lot to the terminal, and she tossed her duffle in before she herself climbed inside. Her lips curled up at the edges as she took in the sight of the interior of the truck, with every bell and whistle the model could offer. _I’m gonna kick his ass… then buy him a drink_ she thought to herself as she turned the key in the ignition and sighed with the sound of the powerful engine roaring to life… and her favorite song assaulted her ears.

 

* * * * *

Dean had no idea why in the hell he let Sam talk him into turning around. Maybe it was because he had no idea just where the hell he planned to go, and gas was getting expensive these days. He cracked the window a bit, hoping that a steady stream of cool air might help to clear his head. It wasn’t working in the least, and even though he wasn’t far from his destination, he pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out, feeling the anger creep back into him. He couldn’t believe that after all this time, he was still letting that man get under his skin. Then again, he couldn’t honestly believe that John had such little love for his sons that he’d just constantly cast them aside for others… especially when those others weren’t even John’s responsibility. He just didn’t get that. What the hell had he ever done wrong? He followed every single order, did everything he humanly could to satisfy the requirements that man had set forth… but it was never enough. 

All this tumbled through his head as he walked around the impala… he needed to hit something, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to take his anger out on Baby. He’d done that once and he regretted it every single day after. The emotions were boiling up inside him and looking for a way to escape. He walked up to the closest object he could find, and started to wail on it. The telephone pole trembled with each and every blow he dealt out on it. There was a really load creak and the pole in front of him swayed just slightly. It was just enough to bring him back to reality. His lungs ached from the rapid intakes of cool air that he pulled into his body, and his hands throbbed. Something warm and wet slowly slid down a few of his fingers alerting him to the broken skin across his knuckles that were now bleeding. With a long and shaky breath, he turned and quickly walked back to the car. His hands slippery with the flow of blood over his fingers, he fumbled with the keys and knew that he’d have to clean the stains off his clothing when he had a chance. Finally managing the key into the trunk lock, he opened the heavy lid, the familiar groan grounding him just a bit more, and grabbed the first rag he could find. He didn’t care that it was covered in oil, he just wanted to wipe the blood off his hands and get back to Bobby’s.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will say that this chapter is a bit... explicit. Blame the fact that i've been flooding my ears with gaga, volbeat, and disturbed... but I'm dealing with some personal demons right now and it has spilled out in my writing. yes I'm twisting the characters a bit, but I will say that there is a reason for it, and it is leading somewhere. So please just roll with it right now. I have a plan and am trying to put all the pieces together and burdening my sister with helping me... so i'm slow going. This chapter was sort of a personal therapy for me, and it may take me some time to actually go back and read and edit it. Please leave your feedback, but be a little kind as I deal with this darkness I find myself dancing in. I now return you to your regularly scheduled insanity.

Jade had driven her mustang a few miles into the woods from her last known location before she decided that it was good enough. No one would think that her mustang could navigate through all this, so long as she covered the tire tracks, she'd be pretty solid. She turned the engine off and sat behind the wheel a moment. Her leg ached, but not nearly as bad as it could have. Parking her car inside a mess of trees she pulled as much weed and shrub as she possibly could to cover the exposed areas. She made sure that there was an easy access point that just required lifting one branch to get in. Satisfied that she'd done her share, she picked up the med kit and sought out a clean place to change the bandage. Either the bite wasn't as bad as she thought, or she started healing quicker, or maybe her pain tolerance was just absurd now. Could be any of those, could be all of those. She wouldn't know until she changed the dressing.

Finding a silo and barn that had long been forgotten, she made her way inside and sighed at the state of things. It wasn't clean, but at least here she could sit down with her foot up. She pulled the bandage off and frowned at the sight of her wound. It was barely pink and already starting to scar.

"Well that's new" she muttered to herself and ran her fingers over it. Yeah, it was healing at an alarming rate, but it was still swollen and tender which made her believe that it was only healing on the surface. She began to think that maybe it wasn't just a shifter that she'd found out there… especially since they appeared to be a in group, and most of the ones she'd encountered before were solitary. For a heartbeat she entertained the idea of turning her phone and calling Ash for intel, or hell, even Bobby… but no, she wasn't ready to give up her slice of freedom yet. "Must be something in the saliva…" She said and left the bandage off. At least she'd be able to run and fight decently, and not like she'd just been bitten by a monster a day ago.

Was it a day ago? She couldn't exactly remember to be honest. She knew that she'd managed to drag herself back to her car, but considering she'd turned her gps blocker on and shut off her phone… she wasn't entirely sure how long she'd been out. She felt like she had a fog in her brain and attempted to shake it away. It didn't work. It was like… well it reminded her of sleep deprivation. That feeling of knowing you're awake, but not really being there. Taking a deep breath she accepted this dream state she found herself in and decided to roll with it. She didn't have much choice… she liked being off the map. She was free when she was off the map. The problem she was facing was that she didn't know how long she had left of her freedom. Ash had been tracking her, which meant when she dropped off after an attack, she may not even have had 48 hours as he may well have raised every red flag. But then, who the hell would he call to come after her? Bobby? He wouldn't rush out to find her, he was used to her going missing. She shook her head. It didn't matter. She had a family of shifters to draw out, and the only way she was going to find them, was by looking for herself… since she was the last thing they saw.

As usual Dean was the first one up, just after dawn. He'd had trouble sleeping and needed some air. Since he didn't have Baby with him, he figured he was left with his own two legs as transport. Walking was just fine with him, but he figured he wouldn't even be able to get coffee this early in the day so, he'd sat for a while going over the journal again, still searching for any more intel he could find. He'd managed to get Bobby to explain just a fraction more detail last night, of course it was after Sam had told Bobby the details of that night so many years ago when he first met Jade. It had been a very awkward situation, and Bobby only let the story go so far. It was entertaining to say the least. After Sam left to take a walk, Dean had shown Bobby the few randomly scribed notes through the journal. The one he wanted him to explain was the comment about her enjoying the fight too much.

"Come on Bobby, there has to be a reason dad wrote this down" Dean's voice held irritation. He wasn't going to let this go.

"Yer dad always had a reason, but you don't want to hear this story boy, so just drop it" Bobby had said as he tried to get up and walk away. He was stopped by Dean's hand slamming on the table.

"Dammit Bobby! I deserve some fucking explanations!" Dean's face let Bobby know that this wasn't just going to get brushed under the rug. This affected his life too… and he wasn't going to settle for just ignoring it. He wasn't Sam. "I expected the secrets and lies from my dad... but not you. I just -" Dean let out a long breath and ran a hand over his face. "I just want a few answers. Something to help me make some sense of this shit"

Bobby let out a long and exhausted sigh. "Fine. But you ever raise your voice to me again boy…" Bobby let the sentence trail off. Both of them knew that there was nothing more to that sentence, as each of them had yelled at the other too many times to count before.

"Thank you" The relief in Dean's voice was palpable.

"I love those girls like they were my own... and keeping them from you boys was the hardest task I've had. Onyx was a hellion as a kid, but Jade... That girl was a headache growing up. I've never know a more stubborn person in my life… not even Ellen or your dad. She was 16 and had decided that she was done with taking orders in her life, and snuck out of the house. No one knew much about her life at that point. She kept secrets better than any person I've ever known, which is why I kept putting restrictions on her. She hot wired a car and took off. No one could find her… not even the best of us. Not even Ash. I still have no idea how she eluded everyone. I have a feeling she shacked up with the monsters for a while, and they covered her tracks for her. "

Dean raised a brow at that comment. He'd known of a few humans that hooked up with the creatures, because they offered them something humans couldn't. It was something he didn't think about often because a part of him understood their reasoning.

"It's the only explanation we have. Nothing else makes sense. So about six months went by when word finally reached John that she was missing. Everyone had searched for the first few months, but we had to give up and move along. Your dad wouldn't accept that. He burned a lot of bridges at that point. He figured he'd be the one to track her down. Left you boys in a safe place and set off after her. Ash started checking hospitals, and a Jane Doe turned up matching her description. She'd been beaten to a point that they thought she was DOA. It took them 10 minutes to finally get a pulse. Two days later she was awake, but heavily drugged. She wouldn't say much, just that she'd stepped over the line, and not to go after him. John didn't like that response and kept prying for information. Even had them run a catscan on her to make sure she didn't have brain damage or something."

Dean raised his brows at that. He didn't want to say anything and keep Bobby from finishing the tale, but he was surprised that his dad would go so far for a person he didn't really know. "So what happened?"

"Turned out she was fine. Took him two more days to get her to elaborate that she had taken up with a pack of vampires. Said she became a willing donor for them in exchange for them teaching her to fight. She said she'd started to enjoy the training sessions, but eventually got so focused that she lost her ability to say when."

"Say when?"

The look Bobby gave him should have given all the answer he wanted, but it didn't suffice. "Idjit…." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He hated talking about shit like this when it came to his daughter. "She never told them to stop. That's the story he got from her. And that's the entire story I have to tell. Let this go Dean… that girl is more trouble than you can imagine. If you want more answers, I'll call Ellen and put you in touch with her sister. That one started out trouble, and wised up real quick. Leave my kid out of your daddy issues."

Dean looked away in frustration then. For one, he hadn't gotten much in the way of answers, and for another, he knew that Bobby would never say another damn word about it. He'd never heard him talk about this girl, and suddenly she's his kid. He just didn't get any of it. "Don't tell me to let this go Bobby… you know I can't."

"But it's what you need to do. Don't dig up the past boy, it just leads to ghosts you can't kill" he said with a touch of sadness in his voice. He got up then and walked to the door. "You boys are in here tonight, I've got the one next door. Try to sleep, we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow"

Dean shook his head as he let the memory of last night roll through his mind. It was not the answers he wanted, but it helped to put a few more pieces together. Stepping outside, the humid air hit him like a wet sheet. "How the fuck do people live out here like this?" His words were quiet but calm. His muscles were still tense from the shitty bed of the motel and his head hurt from trying to piece together this insane puzzle. He knew that they were in the general area where this chick went missing, but given that he'd never actually met the girl… well, now that wasn't true. He had met her, hadn't he? Well now wasn't that a mind fuck… not that he needed that right now. What he needed was a good old fashion fuck, or at least a fight. Something normal, something that made sense to him. He didn't realize just how long he'd been walking without paying attention until he bumped smack into someone.

"So sorry, wasn't paying-" Dean furrowed his brow.

"S'ok" was a muttered reply from the hurried figure.

"Hey… I know you" Dean did a double take as the figure walked away from him. A tall figure. A red haired figure. "HEY!" He shouted after her, trying to catch up with her. The girl glanced over her shoulder, and a flash of light caught her eyes. Dean slowed just a little. It was her, he could swear it… but something wasn't right. It was in her eyes… Dean stopped and pulled out the photo of the two girls. The fairer one had green eyes. This figure that looked just like her… had silver eyes. Shifter. Dean took off running in the direction the thing had taken off in.

Jade felt like she'd been walking for hours, but given that the only thing she had to gauge time with was the sun, and it had barely climbed in the sky, she realized that she really hadn't been walking that long, and she'd found minimal traces of the shifter. She'd gone on a hunch that they'd head towards the nearest abandoned lot in the woods to shelter. She'd mapped it out just before she left her car, and was hitting the local town for food when she saw herself from a few yards away. It was jarring really, to see yourself at a distance. She tilted her head a bit as her clone ran into someone. She quickened her pace a bit, trying to get a better look… that's when she realized who it was and cursed the fates for tossing this at her as well. It couldn't be… there's no possible way that could him. But… it was. What the hell was he doing here? She expected Bobby… she had not expected a Winchester. "Well… I'm fucked" she muttered to herself as she watched Dean take off after… herself. Man, she was going to need a pretty big damn drink after this was all over. She took off running after the pair of them. Dean may have discovered the fact that what he was chasing was a shifter, but what he didn't know was that there were two more in the direction he was headed. With every landing on her left leg she felt the burn of pain in her leg and her head feeling more disconnected from reality. The run should help with that, but then again, maybe it was making it worse. Either way, she didn't have a choice. If she slowed he could be dead by the time she reached them.

Dean's pace kept up with the female in front of him. No matter how fast he ran, she seemed to be faster and he just couldn't catch up with her. Pretty soon they were running at a faster pace than he was used to and the air here was so humid that he was having trouble breathing. It also didn't help that the next thing he knew they were dodging trees with long weeds grabbing at his feet and branches that snapped back at him as he finally started to gain on her. Suddenly the figure in front of him stopped full force and turned to face him. It threw him off his guard, as he ducked under a larger tree branch and he stumbled to a stop. That moment would be his biggest mistake. The shifter lunged forward and body slammed him, throwing its full weight against him as they hit the ground. Dean hit the ground hard and the full weight of the shifter landing full on top of him knocked some of the breath from his lungs. His head hit the ground and sent a spatter of stars behind his eyelids, and at the same moment he felt the teeth of the shifter dig into his arm. He was pissed that he'd tossed his jacket off during the run, but it had slowed him down, now it wasn't there to protect him from this shit. The shifter jumped to its feet as Dean rolled, but wasn't quite fast enough. He felt the kick to the side and it set him back down on the ground. Dean played hurt and used it to his advantage. Rolling onto his side, he drew the knife from its hidden sheath in his waistband and he drove it into the leg that swung at him again. The scream that resonated from the shifter gave it away. That was not a human scream. Dean held the handle of the knife and drew it back out again, smiling as the thing crumpled down to wrap its hands over the stab wound that wouldn't stop bleeding.

"WHO ARE YOU" he shouted at it and moved to place the knife under its chin, and missed.

With quicker speed than he'd seen before in a shifter, it was back up on its feet and delved out a pretty good left hook. Dean shook his head and recovered just in time for a second hit. Realizing that he may possibly outmatched he backed up just out of the reach of the swings, he let all the anger bubble to the surface and screamed as he delivered the hardest hit he could, and smiled as the thing went down cold. Dean shook out his fist and kicked the thing lightly with his foot. He could feel the sting in his face from where the two punches landed, and he knew that his jaw would ache for it tomorrow. What he wished he could shake off was the haze that came from a good clocking to his skull.

Looking down at the shifter, who's body had handled more stress than normal had started to shed, the skin was started to bubble up in places and the smell that brought on made Dean gag. "Ugh, your kind is so disgusting…" he muttered and pondered delivering a few kicks in retaliation just for the hell of it, but looked up with knife drawn as he heard something else move not far off. He was suddenly a bit pissed that he'd left his gun back in the room, but that was neither here nor there. The knife would do. It would mean more hand to hand combat and the satisfaction of slitting throats. He looked down at the figure laying on the ground, the flesh of it bubbling off of it and the red hair falling to the ground. The stench was beyond words. He heard the sound in the distance again, but more than that he could hear running behind him. He'd taken more than a few good solid hits and knew that his head was a step behind where it needed to be. He stepped over the unconscious body of the shifter and walked toward the noise in front of him. He wanted away from the scene that someone was close to finding. Ducking between two trees, he did a double take as he saw… her again. There was more than one of these bastards, and he wasn't entirely sure he could handle this situation.

"What the hell? Is it attack of the clones or something?" He asked, catching the shifter's attention. He considered himself lucky that he'd caught it off guard before it had the moment to attack him alongside the other one.

Jade ran flat out for miles, never able to catch up to the two people she was chasing. Out of breath and feeling a bit exhausted, she reached the scene where it all went down. There were traces of shifter skin everywhere, but no trace of the shifter. Looking around quickly Jade noticed that the weeds in one direction were a bit… wet. The fucking thing had been knocked unconscious, shifted to its normal form, then that bastard shifted back into her again. What clued her in on that was all the red hair scattered around, and then the pile of rotting and dissolving flesh at the base of a tree. Oh this was going to be just peachy. She quickly followed the traces of goo through the weeds until she reached a new clearing. She was taken aback at the sight before her. She saw herself on the ground, but it wasn't her… she was, well, melting. But this wasn't the same shifter. This one was smaller. The female. She looked it over and saw that it had mostly bled out and the skin was just starting to stop changing. The traces of blood went off in one direction as if it had crawled for a foot before dying and she was tempted to check it out, but then there was a sound behind her. Jade turned around just in time to see a fist swinging at her, and then the world went dark.

It had taken Dean more work than expected to gain advantage over the second shifter. It was smaller than him, and weaker. Didn't mean it had no fighting skills. This one had taken a good beating, and delivered just the same before it tired enough that he had an opening. Dean's head was spinning and his body ached from the fight, but he ran the blade of the knife across its throat and watched it stumble and fall. Breathing hard, he could see the trail of the first shifter leading off behind him, at least it had the good sense to run away and not come back to fight again. The approaching footsteps alerted him to a possible third that was headed his way and he really didn't want to give it the upper hand. He really needed to take out this other one first. He could handle several shifters, if it was one at a time… but not several at a time, especially if they've been trained to fight, and he was already hurting. He started off after the surviving shifter. Two feet away, he got the upperhand and brought the thing down. Turns out they are slower when they've just finished shifting skin… he knocked it out, and dragged it to a nearby hay barn. Finding the center support beam and some lead rope, he tied the thing to the beam and headed out for the last one. He wanted to know how many more were out there, and just what the hell they really were, because these were not normal shifters.

"Oh this is too easy" he muttered to himself as he watched this new one looking over the dead shifter. Dean took his time and snuck up on her. With one snap of a twig he caught her attention and clocked her when she turned. Once again he dragged a body to the barn and tied this one up alongside the other.

"Now this is just… creepy" he said as he looked over both identical girls. He had to figure out a way to get these sick bastards to drop their façade. Thankfully he had a lot of aggression to go around, and these things needed a reason to stress out. His head was heavy, and his face burned a bit from the cuts and swelling, but it was minimal and he'd survived worse before. Besides, he had enough energy left to delve out some damage. He had the motivation, and the desire, to do just that.

Jade groaned as she came to. The side of her face ached and her eye felt swollen. Her arms were stiff and her hands pulsed a little. Tied. Arms back, hands behind her, but around something. Whatever knocked her out decided to keep her hostage. This was fine with her, she'd taken one hit and it meant she could buy some time to plan her escape. Slowly she opened one eye just a crack and peered through her lashes. She could feel someone sitting next to her, but she couldn't see how, or what, it was. What she could see was a bale of hay with a figure on it and could just barely make out the form of… Dean Winchester. Well, this just went from okay to really fucked. She was exhausted, not in good headspace, and she was so not prepared to handle a Winchester in her state. The last thing she wanted to be right now was tied up at the mercy of a notorious slut like Dean Winchester. She hadn't been laid in way too long, and right now her brain was more focused on her libido than on her escape. Dammit Jade what the hell is wrong with you? Get your head in gear girl… her mental voice rang through her head. She made no effort to move, but tried to take in any other indications of her situation. She knew she was tied up. With one other person, and at the mercy of Dean Winchester. Eh, she'd had worse days. We could have so much fun with this… think of the damage he could inflict. Let's play… that other voice in her head piped up, and for some reason, she had no ability to fight it off. Or maybe she just didn't want to.

"So boring… It's been half an hour, one of you has to wake up soon…"

She heard Dean's words drift towards her just a moment before he got up and kicked at the legs of the person next to her. No movement. She knew he'd test her next. Normally she could pass with flying colors, but he managed to kick her right where the bite was still healing on her calf. It made her jerk.

"Ah so one of you is awake at last" Dean said and kicked her legs again, harder this time. He smiled as she stirred. "Oh, did that hurt? Too bad you aren't human enough for me to care" he said with a raised eyebrow. He was so ready to unleash more aggression on this pair of freaks. He kicked her legs again and smiled as she actually let out a yelp of pain.

"What makes you think I'm not human…" Jade finally said as she slowly opened her eyes. The area under her left eye was swelling up just a bit, but it didn't stop her from looking up at him.

"Well, the fact that you're the third one of…" he motioned between the two "you… that I've come across today, makes me understand that your whole little pack of shifters seem to like this form. I mean, I can't really blame you, it's a very nice form.

"And how do you know I'm actually a shifter? I could be human" she retorted. She was toying with him, bidding her time until she could untie herself and have her real fun.

"It's the smell… you all smell the same"

Jade laughed. She laughed loud enough that it woke the creature next to her up. "We're literally tied up in a hay barn where the stuff is rotting away into shit…nothing is going to smell right in here asswipe"

Dean didn't much care for the comment and let a swift kick to the gut silence the words. He watched as the creature before him recoiled, made a noise like wind leaving a container and then take a few deep breaths before coughing. He smiled as he watched her catch her breath. He enjoyed that… he shook his head a little as he realized that. He had a moral compass, and yet he couldn't help but answer the call of his aggression.

"That's fighting dirty. At least let me attempt to defend myself…" Jade managed to get the sentence out through deep breaths. He had nearly kicked the wind out of her, but she'd been struck worse and was quick to recover. "Untie me and let me have a clean fight… or do you prefer it this way?" She watched the flash of emotion cross his face, and his lip twitch a bit. He was hiding something, something that she picked up. "Oh, you do… you like seeing me all tied up and helpless, at your mercy. I bet you're hoping I beg…." She caught the very subtle twitch under his eye this time and smiled at his internal fight. He was struggling with himself over this, This was indeed the Dean Winchester she'd heard about. Push his buttons right and he was ruthless. This one had a dark side that he liked to hide from, that he tried to convince himself didn't exsit… she wanted it to come out and play.

Dean couldn't take it anymore. Her words were ringing through his mind and he leaned down and gripped the red hair, pulling her head back at sharp angle, cutting off her ability to talk. He paused a moment, taking a deep breath, and fighting the fog in his head. "Oh you'll beg..." He paused for a few heartbeats as his thoughts raced through his head and he fought with which ones to listen to. Eventually the rational won out. "You'll beg me to kill you quickly" He released her head by shoving it down and walking away. His heart was racing and he needed to walk away from her before he did something he would regret later. Something wasn't right. He couldn't think clearly and his head felt like he was drifting through a dream. And this one didn't smell like the others… there was a similar scent, but also something very different. Didn't matter, she was still a creature, and he could still work his anger out on her.

"That's right tough guy, rough up the helpless girl" Jade said with a sly smile "But… maybe I want you to. Then again, maybe I'm just buying time until this thing behind me finally wakes up and you can see that-" her words were cut off by a slap across the face. The sting radiated through her cheek and sent a shiver down her spine. The boy could hit. At least this time he'd chosen the not swollen side. Didn't make her eyes water.

"Shut up" he spat the words at her before he finally kneeled down and jolted the other being awake. "Wakey wakey. I want answers and this one isn't very helpful" Dean smiled as the shifter opened its eyes, and started to panic. "There we go. Hey there. I want-" He never got to finish his sentence because the shifter flailed its legs and managed to kick Dean off his feet. He didn't find it as funny as the other creature that started laughing.

"Oh big man brought down by the tiny scared shifter…" Jade said through laughs until he got back up on his feet and delivered another kick to her side, something flashing behind his eyes as she looked at him again. "Okay… that one hurt" she said through a ragged breath. "But seriously man, I don't know how to explain to you that I'm not what you think I am" her words were quiet and full of annoyance.

The shifter next to her finally calmed down and started spouting off a string of 'where, why, and how' Dean rolled his eyes, and kicked this one too. He could see the panic in this one's eyes, but nothing yet to prove what it was. Damn. He was itching to kill something again… but he'd settle for beating the truth out of them. He focused his attention back on the other one. "Well, since you seem more responsive I'll ask you. But if you say anything other than yes or no… well, then we'll have to play the pain game"

"Oh but I have such a tolerance for pain" Jade said with a cocky smile. She saw the twitch in his face and she half expected him to slap her again. She was almost sad when he didn't.

"I'll let that one go. Now, are there more of you out there?

"I don't-" The sting of the slap on her face again brought a taste of copper to her mouth. Swallowing it, she felt the little shiver run down her spine again. Oh she had no plans to give him his answers. She wanted this to keep going, she could see he got a thrill from dishing it out, and she got a thrill from taking it.

"Once more, just answer with a yes, or a no. Are there more of you out there?"

"I. Don't-" another slap. This time harder. She could feel the heat in her cheek building up. It wasn't the only thing rising either.

"You don't listen very well do you…"

"Never ha-" Another slap. This time on the other side of her face. She felt the rush of pain as injured skin was struck again. She shivered a little as her nerve endings fired. She shook her hair back from her face and looked him in the eye. "Hit me again. See if it makes me behave." She said in a flat tone. She wasn't about to let him know that she was enjoying it, but she was sure he would take it as her being passive aggressive. She waited for the slap that never came. Sadly, just as she was certain he was going to break and hit her just for fun, the shifter next to her started to freak out again.

"where is she? Where is my sister? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?" The shifter started to shout and Jade started to laugh again until the thing just keep freaking out. She rolled her eyes when Dean stood up and moved away. Dammit… shut the fuck up already she thought to herself and very nearly attempted to kill the creature herself.

"He killed her…." Jade said through her laugh. She received a kick to the calf again in response. It sent a jolt of pain through her, but she just looked up at him. "Not a lie"

Dean shook his head and focused on the other shifter. "Are there more of you out there?"

"N-no. There's just the three of us. We're the last of our kind. Took on this form today… stranger in these parts…" Ragged breathes came from the creature "did- is my sister really dead?"

"Yup, dead as roadkill… throat cut just like an animal" Jade said, the whole time looking at dean. This time his anger got the best of him and he punched her again. She felt the impact on her cheek again, slightly further up, and knew that the outside corner of her eye would bruise. She felt the little trickle of blood that started to well up and laughed as she spit a little blood on the ground next to her. Well, now she knew how to get a rise out of him…. If only she could get these fucking ropes untied. Suddenly the creature next to her gasped and its arms fell forward. Motherfucker… she muttered in her head as she realized why her hands were still bound. She'd been working on the wrong knot.

The shifter lunged forward at Dean, and full force plowed into his torso and slammed him into a wall. The impact sent Dean's head back against a broken board and delayed his reaction to the attack. The creature managed to get a full two stumbled steps away from him before he grabbed its hair and slit its throat as well. It went down with a gurgle and reached out its hand like maybe it would grasp onto something to save itself. Its silver eyes flashed in the growing light and Jade laughed.

"I should have figured it was the wrong damn knot" Jade said and looked over at Dean. "You gonna cut my throat too? Or are you gonna save it for the real third shifter? You look like shit, likely won't make it through another fight…" she was prodding him to see how quickly he'd react to her. He was slower than she expected, but he'd also faced down two shifters and had taken a few good hits himself. She figured that put her at good odds for the buttons she wanted to push. "So listen, how about you untie me and we settle this like humans?" she asked as she slowly managed to stand up, now that there wasn't a second set of arms keeping hers down.

Dean was reaching the point of wanting to just kill this one too. But something about her made him stop and reevaluate. He walked toward her, but made sure to stay out of reach of her kick space. "No human would take that damage and not say anything" he motioned to her face with the edge of the knife. Even as the words left his mouth, something in the back of his mind told him he was wrong.

"Is that so? You live in a very sheltered world then" she said, voice unwavering. She wanted him to hit her again and didn't want this moment to end yet. She hadn't been laid in weeks and this was revving her engine so high she could barely stand it. Besides, it's not like he wasn't enjoying some of it himself. She could see it in his face. He was fighting it, but it was there, bubbling just under the surface of him… if only he'd give into it. "You're still not sure if I'm not a shifter… I mean, you've just been attacked by two of them that look just like me, so maybe I'm one too. Only way to tell is to get my stress levels high enough to break my concentration and force a change… right? So hit me" She hoped he'd take the bait. She'd seen him a few times over the years, without his knowing of course, and watched him fight. He liked the power it brought to him… he liked inflicting the pain. She wanted to tap into that. She had to know she wasn't the only freak in the community, so to speak.

"How do I know you're not the third one this smelly bag of skin was talking about?"

"Maybe I killed the third one and that's why they all look like me… maybe I am the third one… maybe I was attacked and got away, you really can't know" she said and watched as the thoughts flickered through his eyes. "You're thinking about shutting me up again, aren't you… but you're too weak to keep this up so just-" slap. She shivered as the sting rang through her whole body this time. "Ugh, finally!" She said and dropped the rope from behind her and swung at him. Her fist landed into his gut, but not hard enough to take him down… just hard enough to elicit a response from him. She smiled as she took a few steps away, feeling the sway she put into her hips. She wanted him, just like she wanted the pain he gave her. "Come on little human, make a move" she said in an almost giddy voice.

Those last few words crawled under Dean's skin like sand. Gathering up his energy, he spun on her, pushing her into the wall behind her and digging the knife into her throat. He liked the gasp she gave out as it broke through the skin, sending a little drop of blood sliding down her neck. Man… she had great skin. "I should kill you right now" He said quietly and nearly jumped when he felt her hands at his hips.

"You could, but it would end all this lovely fun we're having" She whispered, pulling his hips towards hers. She felt the hesitation in him, the confusion. Rolling her eyes a bit, "I already told you… I am not a shapeshifter…" she said the words a little louder, pressing her own hips against his. She could feel his whole body tighten up in response to her actions and it made her smirk. "100% human" she said and tried to move her face closer to his, but was suddenly reminded of the knife point cutting into her flesh.

"No human would take a beating like that and ask for more…" Dean said, finally deciding to really look at her. Green eyes. Not silver. Solid pale skin, not peeling off in disgusting gooey sheets. He leaned his head closer to her and took a deep breath. She didn't have that rotten smell that the others did. Actually, he couldn't help but noticed that she smelled damn good. Fresh, and a little like rain. She was… human.

"Shows what you know about humans. You spend too much time with creatures..." she had slowly raised her hand up to pull the knife down from under her chin, but didn't dare go so far as to get him to drop it. "Humans are complicated… " she whispered as she leaned forward, her lips brushing just over his "Dean". His name left her lips on a soft breath, but just before he relented , she saw a thought hit him.

Dean pulled his head back and looked at her. "How do you know my name?" He asked, eye brow raised.

Jade let out a frustrated sound and attempted to push him away as she slipped off to the side. She didn't get far more than a step before Dean's hand gripped her arm tight and turned her around.

"How do you-"

"Yes, I know you are Dean Winchester… I know very little about you other than you're a hunter, you have a brother, you enjoy the hunt as much as I do, and you get off on dishing out the damage, and if it wasn't for that brother you'd be ruthless." She watched as Dean's face contorted into a scowl. "Rumors spread, and I've even seen you a few times before. We actually sat next to each other at a bar once. The stories people tell about you caught my attention, seemed like a guy I wanted to know more about, especially given who I am." She looked at him curiously, and after a moment her eyebrow went up. She had honestly figured that by now those boys would have discovered far more. That explained a lot. "They never told you about me… "she said softly and watched his reaction. He was trying to process too much. "So. They did tell you who I was… but nothing about me…" she tsked "Bobby really should have given more than my name" She felt Dean's grip tighten then and she winced just a little. "Surprised your daddy never said anything either. Then again, he never much-" Her words were cut off as Dean tightened his grip on her arm again, and she knew she'd be bruised for it. She sucked in air on a hiss "You planning to break my arm?"

"If it comes to that…" He said, his words laced with a mixture of emotions. She hadn't given away anything that wasn't public information, and the rest could be lies, but still... he still couldn't be certain. He hated this feeling, like he was missing something right in front of his face. His head was swimming... he couldn't kill her if she really was human, but he couldn't let her go if she really was the third shifter.

"Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last" she said and stepped closer to him. "You want to hit me again… I can see it written all over your face. You can't kill me, but you do want to hit me… So do it." She said calmly and got no rise from him. With a growl of frustration, she took a swing at him. He let go of her arm to dodge and lifted his hand in response, and backhanded her. Hard. She started to fall, but then she felt his hand in her hair as he lifted her head up to look at him. She licked at her lower lip, which was now split and welling with blood. "Nice work… do it again… please…" her words were almost a desperate plea, and she watched the twitch in his eye. He wanted to…. But he still held fast in his resolve, even though it was crumbling. She could tell that her next move would either make or break the situation. She took a deep breath, and brought her knee up into his stomach. He doubled over and she backed away. She waited on his next move and actually yelped as he righted himself and before she could think, his hand was in her hair again and he pinned her between himself and the wall, her cheek pressing into the wood.

"You're one sick bitch… you know that?" He said, breathing against her ear. His blood was racing, the thought of fucking her was overwhelming, and he didn't even really know why. He wanted to hurt her, in any way he could.

"I get that a lot" she panted out and pressed her hips back into his, feeling his hard cock trapped between them. "But you like it don't you…" She said and licked at her lip again.

Dean's eye twitched again and he snapped. He leaned back just enough to spin her around and press his hips into hers again. He felt her shift against him and groaned. He drew in a ragged breath and pulled on her hair again. "I want to hear you beg…" Dean said. Something inside him had snapped. All the anger and frustration and confusion washed away with his desire to have control again… even if it was just for this encounter. He let go of his morality and gave in to the voice in the back of his head that agreed with everything she was saying. He didn't like admitting to himself that she was right, but something in him could no longer fight it.

"Please… " Jade said and looked at him, rubbing her hips against him again, her hands already trying to find the button of his jeans. She'd left any passion out of her words, she was just going through the motions now. She knew this routine, had been through this a few times before. Most of the time they just wanted to hear things, even if there was no meaning behind the words... it was a power thing. She figured this one was the same, but she had no idea how wrong she was. That was until his grip in her hair tightened and his free hand went around her neck and squeezed.

"No… beg me for it" He said, his words almost a hiss.

She gasped as she felt his hand cutting off her airway, and her hands immediately went to claw at his hand and wrap around his wrist. There was something in his expression that told her this could become a very real situation. "Please Dean…" She pulled in what air she could "P-please" she said on a gasping breath, her hands stopping and her breath hitching as he let go of her throat. She felt him release her hair just before the final sting of a hard slap radiated through her. The shiver that went down her spine was punctuated by his lips capturing hers. He kissed her with a bruising force and she tasted blood from where her lip split open again. She groaned as the coppery taste mixed with the taste of him and his tongue invaded her mouth. She could feel his hips press against hers again and she tried to reach between them, desperate to get her hands on that solid piece of him. Her efforts were thwarted when she felt him break the kiss, grip her wrists and slam them against the wall above her head. She struggled against him, and nearly slipped one hand free as he shifted his weight, but he somehow managed to grip both her wrists with just one of his hands and smacked her again. She gasped and pulled in a ragged breath.

Dean had her hands pinned above her head and smiled as she turned her eyes back to him again. He saw the expression on her face and raised a brow at the flush in her skin. "You really do like that" he muttered. When she moved her head to catch his lips again, he gripped her throat once more and pushed her head back against the wall. "Tsk tsk, My turn now" he said and watched her gasp for air. He felt his eye twitch as he considered the thought of just tightening his grip until that defiance faded from her eyes. He had her hands pinned, so she couldn't claw his off. He had total control over her right now... and he was starting to enjoy himself. Letting go of her throat he pinned her legs with his as he used his free hand to pop the button on her jeans and drove his hand down the front of them. He chuckled as he found her bare hot skin, and the wet heat between the folds of her. He couldn't believe how turned on she'd gotten from all of this, but then again, he couldn't believe the same of himself.

Jade gasped so loud as she felt his fingers brush over the most sensitive part of her body. When his fingers ran over her clit, she just about came. Letting out a frustrated cry as he smiled and drove his fingers inside her, then pulled his hand free. She shuddered at the sudden loss of his touch. She watched as he brought his hand to his lips and licked his fingers. She struggled to get her arms down so that she could rip his clothing off him, but his grip held. She opened her mouth to speak, but he bit her lip to silence her, and she tasted blood again. The pain radiated through her body and combined with the overflow of sensations, she came. Hard. Panting she opened her eyes to see Dean watching her.

"So you're a masochist." He raised a brow. "Interesting."

"And you're a fucking sadist, so I guess we're even…" she panted and finally managed to slip one hand free, and cupping him through his jeans, rubbing her palm hard against the throbbing shape of his cock. "Now let the other one go and I'll tend to your every need…" she whispered against his lips, then licked her blood from them.

Dean groaned and his grip faltered. He felt the heat of her body slip away as she kneeled in front of him and worked his pants open. He hissed as the cool air of the world hit his extremely hot and sensitive skin. When he felt her hands on him, he rolled his head back on his neck. She knew what she was doing, that was certain… and this was just her hands. His knees nearly gave out when he felt her mouth wrap around him. Warm. Hot. Slick. He couldn't help it as he jerked his hips forward, thrusting himself forward and feeling the tightness of her throat wrapping around him. One of his hands dug into her hair and held her head there, enjoying the feeling running through him. He picked up a slow rhythm, and his head rolled forward, and he nearly collapsed against the wall as she inhaled and suctioned her mouth around him. Stars burst behind his eyes again and he had to pull out of her mouth before all the fun ended too soon. He was panting as he used his grip on her hair to pull her back to standing. He dropped his mouth to her throat and bit down hard. He enjoyed the yelp of surprise she gave off, but his throbbing cock pulled him back to the here and now. He only then noticed that somewhere in the last few minutes she'd shed her shirt. He was clearly losing his mind now. He felt her hand wrap around his cock again and his knees buckled a little. He knew if she went down on him again, this would all be over. He wasn't about to end it like that. He gripped her hair tighter and pulled her head back to look at him. "You don't get to control this" he said and hturned her as he shoved her to the right, smiling as she stumbled against the stacked bales of hay. "I get to" He pressed on her back hard enough to shove her into the hay, smiling as she grunted.

The stray bits of straw dug into her flesh, and she grunted with the force of his push. She looked back over her shoulder just as he tugged her jeans down her hips. The look he gave her let her know that things were far from done. She never saw him draw his hand back, she only felt the sting of the slap against her ass. It actually made her gasp. Another. And another. Her knees went weak and she gripped onto the hale bale to keep steady. She pulled in a shaky breath and lifted her head just to feel him grip her hair, wrap it around his hand and jerk her head up, pulling her body against him, his hot throbbing cock caught between them. "Dean… please" she whispered and barely caught sight of the smirk on his face. He bent her back over the bale and drove into her with full force. She screamed. The pain and the pleasure mixed together and she felt the hay breaking under the grip of her hands.

Dean smiled as the skin of her pale ass grew redder and redder. She made no protest, but when he saw her knees give out, he relented. He wrapped his hand in her hair and knew he finally had her attention. He pulled her against him, clenching his jaw against the urge to plow into her. He wanted… no he needed something from her first. The words left her lips and he felt her submit fully. He knew from here out he had full control. There was no fight left in this one, just need… and desire… for him. Pushing her back down he drove into her until his hips pressed against her ass. Her scream was like music to his ears. Her body convulsed around him and he pulled back out. He slapped her ass hard and then drove back into her again. He saw some of the hay tinge red and knew that she'd gripped it so hard she'd actually cut her hands. This playtime was coming to an end. He drove into her again, and again, until finally they found a panicked rhythm. There was no tenderness in this, just anger, passion, need.

She closed her eyes and locked out the dizziness in her head. She focused on the feeling of him moving inside her. Fast. Hard. Needy. She felt every muscle in her body start to tense up, the pain and pleasure mixing to a higher level than she'd ever felt before. Her skin was on fire and her head was spinning. Her heart raced as her breath came in short gasps. That's when she felt him shift his hips and drive into her one last time. Her body shattered and she screamed.

He knew that this was all going to come to a crashing end. His body felt like it was on fire, and her muscles got even tighter. He was panting, dripping with sweat and exhausted, yet he couldn't reach that cliff… that forbidden precipice everyone searches for. He could feel exhaustion and need creeping up on him and he shifted his hips and drove into her one last time. He felt his body break into pieces as his cock exploded within her. He opened his eyes and withdrew from her, managing to pull his pants back over his ass before he collapsed to the ground, sweaty and panting. Not long after, Jade managed to work her pants back up over her hips and then let her knees go and collapsed to the ground next to him. Her skin was on fire and the room was spinning. She felt like she could burst into flames, and the exhaustion was catching up to her. Her body wasn't prepared to heal everything all at once… especially after that shifter bite. She rolled onto her side and looked at him. He was just as spent as she was. She laughed and he smiled. "Well, that was…"

"Yeah, feeling is mutual" he said in reply.

"Would you mind?" she asked and pointed to something. It was her shirt.

Dean chuckled and tossed the shirt at her. "When the hell did that come off?"

"You really do need to pay better attention to the world around you Dean Winchester" she said and sat up to pull her shirt back on. She leaned down just enough to give him one last passion filled kiss. "Thanks for this…" she whispered against his lips and made to stand up, but found the room spinning.

"Wait where are you-" his words fell short as he reached out to grip her arm, and pulled his hand away. "You're burning" he said and looked at her face.

Jade felt the room spin as she tried to stand up and failed. Breathing was getting difficult, and she seriously felt like the room would burst into flames. She heard Dean say something, but it all blurred together as the world spun and went out of focus. She fell back and felt the world go dark again. Venom. The shifter bite held venom. That's why it healed so fast…

Dean could do nothing as he watched her collapse. Her body was burning hot and he had no idea why. That's when the room started spinning. He shook his head and it instantly brought on a wave of pain from his upper arm. He reached his hand up and felt the bite, frowning at the fact that he could already feel it healed on the surface… and that's when the world went dark.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no this is not the full chapter, but my time has been consumed by attempting to actually sleep of late and I wanted to get this little drabble up before I get distracted again. More soon.

Sam woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. Groaning he rolled over and opened his eyes a crack to see the time. The knocking got louder and Sam sighed figuring Dean had locked himself out of the room… again. He was half tempted to just close his eyes and go back to sleep, but then he heard the voice drifting through the door.

"Get yer lazy asses up and open the door"

Bobby's gruff voice was unmistakable even through wood. Sam waited to see if Dean woke up first, because frankly he was tired and didn't want to get up. When the knocking kept going and Dean didn't make a move, Sam figured that his brother must have gone out early. Rolling out of the bed, he pulled on his jeans and tee and unlocked the door for Bobby.

"It's open" Sam muttered and shuffled off towards the bathroom.

"What the hell took so long?"

"Well, I thought Dean would open the door…"

"Dean? You expected that one to open the door? He's not even here"

"I know that now…" Sam said and closed the door.

Bobby grew impatient waiting for Sam to actually get ready and started looking through John's old journal again. He chuckled at more than a few entries in there. John's mission for revenge… He'd always told him he was an idiot for chasing that bastard down. When Sam finally came out of the bathroom, Bobby closed the journal and looked at him with a raised brow.

"You take longer than most girls I know of"

Sam flipped Bobby off and shook his head. "So where's Dean?"

The expression on Bobby's face told Sam that this wasn't going to be a fun conversation. "Aint got a clue. Figured you'd be the one to know."

"Well see without the Impala, I can't hear when he leaves" Sam paused and looked around for any sign of where his brother may have gone. "You really don't know?" Seeing Bobby shake his head Sam cursed and pulled out his phone. "Let's just hope he answers" he muttered and rang his brother's phone. 4 rings and to voice mail. He tried again. And again. "He's not answering…" Sam said and pulled up the GPS tracking app on his phone. "Got him. He's… yeah he's in the middle of the woods" Sam said and held up his phone for Bobby to see.

"The woods? Jersey has woods?" Bobby said in a laughing tone

"Actually yeah, there's a lot of farming out here and… that was rhetorical. Right." Sam said and grabbed his jacket. "So, you driving?"

Bobby nodded and pulled out his keys. "Let's go save his ass… again" He muttered and the two boys walked out of the room.

Onyx was still waiting for any kind of signal from her sister. No gps on her or the mustang, which meant nothing for her, or Ash, to track. Shit she didn't even know what her sister had been hunting, so she really was at ground zero on this one. She hated not having any traces to go off of. More than that though… she hated this fucking town. She remembered what went down the last time she was here and she really hadn't wanted the surge of memories that came with it.

"fucking hell sis… can't you maybe, just maybe, not be such a loser?" She muttered to herself as she looked over a map and tried to figure out anything she could about where her sister might be. Growling with frustration she picked up her phone and dialed Ash's number.

"Yo"

"Do you have anything on her yet. I mean ANYthing. Like, I'll take a rumor at this point"

"That's a negative. I have nothing… not even a whisper"

"Well… shit."

"Yeah, feel the same. I'll reach out if I find anything" He muttered and ended the call.

Onyx growled again and tossed her phone on the table. She ran her hands over her face and through her hair. Pulling in a long breath she actually entertained the idea of pulling out some tarot cards or a crystal ball or something. Even at that she was certain that she'd never get anything. Divination was her sister's thing… not hers. If she had any magic in her blood at all, it was with nature, and even then she didn't always get the results she wanted. She often was able to connect with and even draw out the beasts and the creatures, but often times she connected too deeply to them. It made it easier for her to hunt the more human things, while her sister usually took on the less human ones. Not an ideal situation, but it had worked for them. Now though, right now she'd give almost anything to have some of her sister's skill of finding without searching. Looking over her map once more, she decided the only way she was going to find anything was by getting out there and searching. She'd start in the tavern and work her way from there.

Dean surfaced into a dim consciousness, that state between sleep and awake. He could hear sounds, but was fighting to get his mind to surface and his eyes to open. His body felt so very heavy, and his head ached with more pain than his worst hangover ever brought. As his mind started to focus just a bit more, he could feel that his lungs were fighting to function properly. As if he couldn't get quite enough air into them, and his whole body was on fire because of it. No… quite the reverse actually, he couldn't breathe because his body was on fire. Damn his arms were heavy. Getting his eyelids to open just slightly, he could see the barn that he had some memory of. Then he heard a sound that eased some of the worry inside him. It was his brother's voice, and right now that was the best sound his ears could ever hear. They were just mumbled whispers that he couldn't pinpoint, but he took relief in knowing he was here. He tried calling out, only to find that his voice didn't work, at least not yet. He kept trying, trying to make some sort of sound. Finally, even though it felt like he had swallowed sand, he managed to say one word. His brother's name came out on a croak, but it was at least a word.

Sam and Bobby had been walking through the thick of the woods for over an hour and Sam could tell Bobby was just about done and ready to go back. That's when Sam spotted the shifter remains.

"Bobby… over here… " Sam called out as he knelt down to examine the shed skin. Turning his nose he made a sound of disgust. "This isn't like any shifter I've seen before… the skin is liquidated. Like it's breaking down or something. And it smells horrible…" Sam said and picked up a stick to prod at the pile of gunk. He was so not about to touch this shit with his bare hands. As the stick made contact with the shed skin, it bubbled and turned to liquid, seeping into the soil under it. He looked up as he heard Bobby approach. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Bobby shook his head and took the stick Sam had been holding, examining the remains on the end of it. "Can't say that I have. This is either a really old creature that no hunter has found before, or something completely new. Whatever it is, it's disgusting" he tossed the stick to the ground and nodded to something in the distance. "And it looks like there was more…"

Sam got up and followed the trail of blood to another pile of gunk in the distance. "Jeez, what the hell are these things?"

"More importantly, where the hell is your brother?"

"Well, something walked away from this place… and was dragging something very large as well." Sam got up and followed the trail. "Bobby! There's a barn over here."

"You mean someone actually LIVED out here?"

"Looks like it was just a barn… maybe storage or something" Sam walked closer, but slowly. He didn't know what to expect inside. He heard Bobby come walking up and he snapped his fingers to get his attention. Motioning for him to stop, Sam tilted his head to listen. "Did you hear that?" He watched as Bobby just shook his head. "I thought I heard-"

"Sam…"

"Dean?!" Sam called out. He could have sworn he heard his brother calling his name. And there it was again…

"Sam…."

Sam went running, the word was soft and followed by a lot of coughing, but it was most certainly his brother. "DEAN!" He called out and finally heard some sort of movement behind a large stack of hay. Rounding that corner he was stopped in his tracks by what he saw. His brother was there, barely moving and struggling with breathing, lying next to… he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Holy shit…" Sam muttered and took a deep breath. That was the last person he expected to just stumble across. Taking in the situation, he noticed that something was clearly wrong with Dean, and the girl wasn't in any better shape. "Bobby! Bobby over here… I need some help!" Same yelled out.

"What the- " Bobby said as he looked over the scene before him. "I'm not even sure I want to know"

"They're buring up…" Sam said as he checked for a pulse on first Dean, then the girl. "We need to get both of them back to the motel fast."

"Sam…" Dean's voice croaked out as his eyes opened just enough that he could make out the figures before him. He let out a ragged breath. "Bitten" He said and then blacked out again.

Sam furrowed his brow and looked up at Bobby. "Did… did you hear him say 'bitten'?"

Bobby just nodded and sighed. "Yeah. Let's get them out of here and back where we can figure out just what the hell is wrong with them"

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thank you for reading and please feel free to leave comments. All input helps the story.


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